At first glance, the debut edition of Night & Day Street Fest will look and sound like an especially celebratory downtown party. It will also be a vibrant reminder of San Diego Street Scene, back in that event’s intimate early years of the mid-1980s. But look a little closer at Street Fest and you’ll find much more than just an outdoor music marathon.

True, Saturday’s eight-hour fete will feature nine bands, including such national and international attractions as G. Love, veteran reggae vocal star Pato Banton and surf-folk troubadour Donavon Frankenreiter. (The lineup also includes such top homegrown local favorites as The Nervous Wreckords, Mattson 2 and The Styletones.)

But this 21-and-up event is also designed to provide a real-time reflection of downtown San Diego and our city’s simultaneously spirited and laid-back vibe.

“Street Fest is a full-service lifestyle/community event that combines important aspects of San Diego and its culture. And it’s being held in an area of town, the East Village, that I’m very passionate about,” said U-T San Diego Director of Lifestyle and Entertainment Chris Cantore.

Those aspects include a craft beer festival-within-a-festival, an array of food truck vendors, multiple art installations (some of which will be created on the spot) and a pop-up vinyl record store. A portion of the festival’s proceeds will go to the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation.

“Obviously, all the local bands have strong ties,” Cantore said. “But so do G. Love and Donavon, who both first broke on the West Coast here and have loyal San Diego followings. Everest is a Los Angeles band, but they played a month-long weekly residency here at the Casbah this year, so they have a connection. And Pato connects us to reggae, which has been popular here for a long time. We wanted to plug less into the commercial side of things and more into the cultural side.”

This comes as music to the ears of G. Love (real name: Garrett Dutton), the genre-leaping singer, songwriter and band leader who headlines Street Fest. He is eager to perform within view of Petco Park and the nearby train and trolley tracks.

“That’s really cool, because I play a lot of harmonica, and the first thing I learned is how to make it sound like a train. When I do a show, I want it to be unique to the people who are there, the place and the vibe,” said Love, speaking from his native Philadelphia.

“There’s nothing I love more than playing my guitar outside on a sunny day. Whether I’m with my band, Special Sauce, or playing solo, I’ve found that people love the songs just as much, as long as they can sing along.”

Between 2001 and 2006, Love and his band performed four times at the now sadly defunct San Diego Street Scene. Cantore first attended Street Scene in 1987 and — while subsequently working as a DJ at radio station 91X FM — served as an onstage announcer for the festival. During Street Scene’s final two years, 2008 and 2009, he helped oversee its social media and online platforms.

“There’s obviously been a void since the departure of Street Scene, and I think a lot of folks have wanted to try to take advantage of that,” Cantore said. “We’re aware of that void: a music street festival, with urban flare, that incorporates the San Diego lifestyle. We want to start small, then build, and reach an audience that remembers what Street Scene was like in the 1980s and ’90s. It’s really all about San Diego and the community. For me, that (emphasis) is when Street Scene was at its best, and the city (officials) have been very cooperative and cool to work with.”

Street Fest, like the first few editions of Street Scene, will feature performances by bands on two stages. But those sampling the event’s craft beers won’t be confined to a separate area.

“By having the festival entirely in the streets, without any designated beer gardens, it will be one big party,” Cantore said. “And we’re right next to a trolley stop, so people won’t have to drive.”